


By The Grace of God

by mireailles



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Mythology - Freeform, fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 21:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11449791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mireailles/pseuds/mireailles
Summary: Moon Spirit/Werewolf. Based on Japanese mythology. Kazuhiko dedicates his life to serving the Moon Spirit in hopes of finding a cure to his lycanthropy.





	By The Grace of God

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a fanfic a long time ago but re-vamped as an original fic. Title comes from a Katy Perry song. Pic of the characters as drawn by Lenomurasan [ here](http://lenomurasan.tumblr.com/post/164078820800/yay-finished-commission-d-i-loved-drawing-these).

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit once killed the Spirit of the Harvest. That is why there is night and day, because he was banished from the Heavens.)_

Kazuhiko is born in a village stricken with poverty, his mother dies in childbirth. His father long since gone. It’s his grandmother who takes on the arduous task of raising him but to her, he’s a blessing. A hearty child full of energy, until the full moon reveals his true nature. His grandmother cuts off the excess hair growing on his back and stomach. Tries to file down his nails. But his eyes glow yellow and his teeth are sharp and jagged.

And she doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s afraid.

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit was born from a white copper mirror held in the Father God’s right hand. That is why he constantly carries one.)_

He isn’t allowed to go out when the moon is full. It’s a rule his grandmother has had in place since before he could remember. When the full moon rises, his body shifts. Changes, hair grows all over his body. His teeth become sharp. All of his senses become more attuned. It scares him because (deep down inside) he’s always known that this only happens to him and that if the other children could see him during those times, they would never speak to him again.

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit was in fact created when the Father God washed away the sins of his right eye. That is why he is blind to imperfections.)_

“He’s cursed,” the Guardian responds to his grandmother’s question. “The Moon Spirit has cursed him for something he has done. To atone for this he must dedicate the rest of his life to the Moon Spirit and hope that it is enough to satisfy him.”

The High Priestess bows down as if to confirm the Guardian’s suspicions.

Her voice comes low and soft, echoing the Guardian’s statement. “The moonlight reveals his true nature. He must never allow people to see how hideous he is on the inside.”

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit hides in the farthest and most sparse regions of the Earth, so that his brothers and sisters may not gaze upon him and feel shame for their Brother.)_

Four years to the day and Kazuhiko finds himself on the steps of a rundown old temple, built in honor of the Moon Spirit who’d cursed him as an infant. The High Priest is courteous to him. His skin is pale and flawless like the full moon. He is also the sole member.

In the middle of the temple is a mirror shrouded in cloth. The only rule the High Priest has for him is never to touch or gaze in the mirror without his permission, doing so is a sin, punishable by death.

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit was indeed not that cruel. The Spirit of the Harvest was slaughtered mercilessly by the Warrior. And night and day simply existed out of a mutual agreement between the Moon Spirit and the Sun Spirit.)_

On the night of the full moon, Lune brushes Kazuhiko’s fur, grooms it carefully. Then he files down his nails until they’re almost to the size they were before he’d transformed. He has done all the Moon Spirit has asked but still, whenever the moon is full he feels the change overtaking him. Lune (the High Priest) is so unbelievably gentle and understanding even when it happened the first time. He thinks Lune would’ve made a great God if he weren’t such a great man.

But there is also, Kazuhiko has come to learn from his years in serving the man, something off-putting about Lune. Something about how his skin never tans no matter how long he stays in the sun’s rays. Or how he’s never bothered by how empty and bare the temple is no matter what time of day or year it is.

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit simply preferred men and that was the reason for the split of day and night.)_

“You’re the Moon Spirit and I’ve done everything in my power to please you. Even more so now that I’ve worked in your temple where no one visits. Surely, you’ll cure me of the curse?”

Lune hesitates, looks down at Kazuhiko’s begging form. All fur, yellow eyes and sharp teeth. “It is true that I possess extraordinary powers the likes of which you cannot imagine but your ailment, I am afraid, is beyond me. I do not curse men.”

He holds him up. “You mustn’t be afraid, Kazuhiko. I give you my permission to look in the mirror. For only in that mirror does it reveal your soul, who you truly are.”

Kazuhiko pulls back the cloth and looks in the mirror. He sees himself as he was before the transformation. He has no fur around his face, his eyes are the blue colour of his deceased grandmother’s, his teeth normal and not jagged and just out of the corner of the mirror he sees Lune’s reflection. Bright, beautiful and awe-inspiring, with ivory-white robes flowing on his person. When he turns to face him, Lune is gone.

The candles are dim in Lune’s room but the moon is bright and beautiful as it casts its light through the windows.

_(It is said that the Moon Spirit never turns his back on his followers and that whenever the moon is full, he will visit them in disguise. Kazuhiko knows this from firsthand experience.)_


End file.
